Oscar De La Hoya doesn’t think a Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford match-up is particularly far-fetched, at least from a competition standpoint.
In fact, the Hall of Fame fighter and founder of Golden Boy Promotions thinks if that fight ever materializes, he would have to put his money on Crawford, the welterweight who would have to move up nearly 20 pounds to meet Alvarez at his current division of 168. De La Hoya used to promote Alvarez before they acrimoniously parted ways in 2020.
Talk of a potential fight between Omaha, Nebraska’s Crawford and Alvarez, the undisputed 168-pound champion from Mexico, has ramped up in recent days, in the wake of Crawford’s dominant, career-defining ninth-round stoppage of Errol Spence Jr. last month for the undisputed welterweight championship at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“Look, and you know this, you know boxing, right? … At 168, people might think, ‘How can Crawford beat Canelo, that’s not possible?’” De La Hoya told ESNews. “But in boxing a big talented fighter will beat the small talented fighter, right? That’s a given. But then people might say, you’re contradicting yourself, Pacquiao beat you. Well, I was a dead man walking already even before I got into the ring.
“In Crawford’s case, he’s a big guy but Crawford doesn’t rely on his power. He relies on his IQ. Crawford, what he did to Spence was magic. It was incredible. It was amazing. One thing about Canelo is that we all know he walks into the ring as if there’s wet cement [on his feet]. His footwork is a little too heavy. Crawford is such a smart fighter where he can just—he’s like Bruce Lee, literally. And he’s at his peak, he’s in his prime.
“So, I think if that fight ever happens, which I don’t think it will, if that fight ever happens, I have to go with Crawford.”
After initially pouring water over a potential fight with Alvarez as being too unrealistic, Crawford has since changed his tune, telling media outlets that he would welcome that match-up—and at 168, no less.
Alvarez, similarly, was not keen on a potential Crawford fight but he too has seemingly warmed to the idea in recent days.
On Tuesday, Crawford tagged Alvarez in a twitter post saying their fight “is definitely by far the biggest fight in boxing.”
Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) is scheduled to defend his four super middleweight titles against undisputed 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo on Sept. 30 at T-Mobile Arena.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) could fight Spence again later this year, if Spence decides to activate his rematch clause.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.